Q: What are some best practices that have evolved for designing industrial control valve systems that end users can apply to today’s systems?

- Jun 27, 2018 -

A: At Stratus, we have developed a multi-stage evaluation process to help automation engineers understand what they really need to effectively modernize and operate updated control systems. This starts out with examining the tolerance to downtime and steps through what is required to support these requirements, including recognizing the importance of data collected from the end points. Having established those requirements, equally critical aspects are understanding migration paths from the old to the new, examining the skill sets available and required to complete the transition, and building an ROI to support the appropriate solution. After all, there is no point in upgrading a control valve system if the transition requires significant downtime, and the complexity of the new system requires new skillsets and significant training to keep it operational, all of which impacts the ROI.